George Stephanopoulos on Thursday followed in the footsteps of other
journalists who are lecturing Republicans on the need denounce birthers
and declare Barack Obama a Christian. The co-anchor quizzed Michele
Bachmann four times on the President's faith and citizenship.

He pestered, "You know, a sizable number of GOP primary voters are questioning President Obama's faith and citizenship. Can you just state very clearly that President Obama is a Christian and he is a citizen of the United States?"

Stephanopoulos, like NBC's David Gregory[1],
found no answer sufficient. The ABC host snapped, "Do you believe
it?...I'm just asking if you believe it?" The Republican representative
insisted she takes "the President at his word" that he's a Christian.
This still wasn't enough for Stephanopoulos.

He complained, "But you can't say that- you can't just sit there and declare the President's a citizen and he is a Christian?"

On Sunday's Meet the Press, David Gregory hectored House Majority
Leader John Boehner about the birth certificate issue: "As the speaker
of the House, as a leader, do you not think it's your responsibility to
stand up to that kind of ignorance?"

In January, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams[2] followed a similar line of attack.

The same journalists who subject Republicans to inquisitions over the
birth certificate issue also indulged the conspiracy theories of
filmmaker Michael Moore's 20004 movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. They certainly
didn't press Democrats to distance themselves from the leftist director.

A transcript of the February 17 segment, which aired at 7:12am EST, follows:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Joining us now, that potential challenger you said
could be the Tea Party's favorite. She's the leader of the Tea Party
caucus in the House of Representatives. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann,
thanks for joining us this morning. So, Congresswoman, you've been to
Iowa several times. You're heading to South Carolina this weekend.
Another early contest. You're going to New Hampshire next month. I know
you haven't made any decisions yet. But why are you interested in the
presidency?

MICHELE BACHMANN: Well, I'm interested, primarily, in making sure for
the next year. We're talking about the issues that the country is
facing. And, so, I want to make sure in the midst of looking at all the
individual candidates, which must be done, that we continue to focus on
the issues of overspending, debt, national security. So, that's really
what I'm doing. I'm trying to set the table, if you will, because these
voters are vital in the early states. They're going to make a very
important decision about our nominee. So, my focus, really, is to keep
the voters focused on the issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Those issues are being raised by all potential
candidates. Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich. So, what do you
bring to this potential race that the others don't?

BACHMANN: Well, I think what I bring is being here in the front lines
here in Washington D.C., where all of the decisions have been made over
the past four years, that have radically changed our country. And for
many Americans, they believe we're not going down the right track right
now. So, I want to take that information out into these different early
primary states. And to listen to people. I've been privileged to be part
of the tea party movement. This has been the verve and the vibrancy
we've seen of people getting engaged again. I want to take that
perspective out to listen to people when I'm going out to the early
primary states.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What's the trip wire to get in to this race? If Sarah Palin decides not to run, are you in?

BACHMANN: You know, I'm not there yet. I've not made a decision whether
or not I'm going to engage. And, so, we'll see. I really want to talk
to the people that are in the early primary states and listen to them.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask you a question about the foreign policy.
We've seen this revolution sweeping across Egypt and the Middle East,
those protests in Bahrain this morning. If you were President right now,
how would your approach differ from President Obama's?

BACHMANN: Well, I think there's some principles that I would focus on.
Number one, my first question would be, what are the vital American
interests in the region? Number two-

STEPHANOPOULOS: What are they?

BACHMANN: What would best be- What would best be done to secure the
safety of the American people? I think, third, my interests would be,
what is the long-term view of the Middle East? We're looking at a
historic shift in instability in the Middle East region that isn't just
one nation. But this is impacting a multiplicity of nations. So, I think
we need to have a long-term perspective. And I think beyond that, this
really underscores the need for high-quality level of intelligence. I'm
privileged to sit on the Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence.
We're secured with dealing with the nation's top classified secrets. I'm
prohibited on going any farther on commenting on specifics in the
matter. But, those are some of the principles I would be looking at.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What is America's number one vital interest in the Middle East?

BACHMANN: Well, there are multiple issues that we have, and multiple
interests that we have and multiple issues in the Middle East. But our
safety and security of people in the United States is always number one.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me move on, now, to this controversy, the debate
you had with the First Lady, Michelle Obama, over breast-feeding. She
said, her encouraging of young African-american mothers to breast-feed
to avoid obesity, for example, is another nanny state. What's your
objection to that?

BACHMANN: Well, I'm a federal tax litigation attorney. That is my legal
background and also my scholarly background. And my quarrel isn't
necessarily with the whole topic. I've given birth to five children
myself. I strongly believe in breast-feeding. I think what this points
up again is that the tax code is used by government as social
engineering. I spent years in the United States federal tax court seeing
the difficult burden of the tax code in people's lives. And I think the
federal government should stop social engineering. I would really
prefer to see us scrap the tax code and find something that is simpler,
fairer, flatter. People are in the process now of the hassle of filling
out their income tax return. And it is a very unwieldily document. Most
Americans have to go to professional preparers just to fill out a tax
return. So, really, my quarrel is with the tax code and the great
complexity that the tax code is for the average American.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, a sizable number of GOP primary voters are
questioning President Obama's faith and citizenship. Can you just state
very clearly that President Obama is a Christian and he is a citizen of
the United States?

BACHMANN: Well, that isn't for me to state. That's for the President to state. And I think that-

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you believe it?

BACHMANN: When the President makes his statements, I think they need to stand for their own.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But, he has said it very clear. I'm just asking if you believe it?

BACHMANN: Well, I think we should take the President at his word.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you can't say that- you can't just sit there and declare the President's a citizen and he is a Christian?

BACHMANN: You know, what I focus on today, George, is today is the
two-year anniversary of the stimulus program, where we spent $1 trillion
to make sure that unemployment won't go above eight percent. That's
what I'm worried about because the people in the sixth district of
Minnesota are concerned about job creation. And that's a lot more
important than dealing with these other issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Final, quick question. I'm just curious: We have a big day. Lady Gaga here in the studio. Are you a fan?

BACHMANN: [Laughs] You know, I don't really know that much about Lady
Gaga. I hate to say it. I have a lot of children. But I don't know much
about Lady Gaga.

- Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here[3] to follow him on Twitter.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.